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Phil and Steve's daily blog from the saddle!!
Day 8 - Monday: Rest Day!
We'd decided that when we reached the half way point & the Lakes that we'd take a day off and rest. So after a great evening in Windermere & a fantastic breakfast from Ken & Cindy at the superb Denehurst Guest House (they really looked after us!), we decided to use our day off by packing up our bags & going for a cycle!!! After Steve repaired his 2nd puncture of the trip, our restful day started with cycling up Kirkstone pass (aka. The Khyber Pass!!!) - England's highest mountain pass, a 1300ft gain in elevation over 6 miles! At the top we celebrated the climb with a pint of Guinness at 1481ft above sea level. What goes up must come down, so we had almost 6 miles of free wheeling the other side! We carried on at a leisurely pace on our day off, a quick stop off at Carlisle and then on until we crossed the Scottish border! Calling it a day early at Gretna Green. 60 miles in total and our 3rd country - not bad for a day off!!!
Day 9 - Tuesday: Change of Wind!!
Gretna Green, we found the witnesses, got the dress sorted & - No!! The morning showers stopped and we started off in sunshine as we headed into Scotland, but this didn't last!! The wind that had either been nonexistant or behind us all the way decided to turn against us and the heavens opened!! Wind and rain in our faces until we got to Dumfries, so we decided to sit out the downpour and load up on calories!! The rain only let up slightly, so we headed out and after a few miles the rain subsided. A local in Dumfries said it rained there 3 weeks out 4, throughout the year, so may be it was just Dumfries rain!! But the wind stayed against us. We ploughed on through the hills, glenns & forests of Scotland. Whilst not the hilliest day, quite hilly and probably our toughest day yet! Stayed in Dalmellington. 70 miles.
Day 10 - Wednesday: Two Thirds & Seven Tenths!
We left Shirley our landlady & host for the night, with grey skies but no rain. Steve went to the doctor to see about a jiggle with his knee that had started almost on day 1 & gradually become worse! The outcome was strong painkillers & a check up when back. The route we took we was country lanes, skirting between Ayr, Kilmarnock & Irvine, stopping at Stewarton for an early lunch at the wonderful Thirst coffee shop. Where Pete & Laurie kindly surprised us with lunch on the house for our charity cycling efforts! After a great lunch stop, we immedately stopped for a pit stop! With Phil's 1st puncture!! The rain started as we got back on the road again and headed through Paisley & the outskirts of Glasgow. Crossing the Eskine Bridge over the Firth of Clyde was quite a surprise and the landscape changed back to countryside as soon as we did. We ploughed on to the beautiful Loch Lomond, calling it day in Tarbet & heading for the pub for our well earned daily beers!!! 82 miles in total.
Day 11 - Thursday: A Leisurely Day in the Mountains!
Matha from Bon Etive really looked after us, washing and drying our wet clothes from the day before, making us porridge in the morning, to give us strength, and topping it off with a donation on our site too!! Looking at map, we knew it was going to be a day of steep climbs in the mountains & highlands, so we'd decided to take things very easy today. The landscape changed dramatically after Loch Lomond & we climbed up into the true Highlands. The views as we came over Rannoch Moor were becoming awesome, especially as the blue skies & sun decided to show themselves & we stopped for lunch at the solitary Kinghouse Hotel. As we carried on across the plateau and started to descend into Glencoe, the scenery became even more stunningl and breathtaking, matched only by the head wind we had, which almost brought us to a stand stil at timesl!! We bumped into another Nutter 'End to Ender' again that we'd met before on the trip. Frankie was travelling even further than us on her longer trip, taking in some of the Irish east coast too! Wishing her luck, as we descended down into Glencoe the heavens opened again (a bit of a pattern happening now!) and arrived in Fort William soaked again!! 67 miles in total (not bad for an easy day in the mountains!)
Day 12 - Friday: Lochs, Monsters & Sunshine
It was sun & blues as we woke to a stunning view of Loch Linnhe. Richard & Rose had been great hosts, then topped it off with a donation on our site! A lovely couple & very kind too, their place has a cracking view over the loch. Ben Nevis was shrouded in cloud as we left Loch Linnhe. From there we went on to Loch Lochy then Loch Oich and on to Loch Ness. 23 miles of Loch & holds more water than all the other lakes in UK combined! After a brief sighting of the monster (see below), we set off from Drumnadrochit - then all started going a bit wrong!...
We hit the worst (steepest) unexpected hill, the heavens opened up their full force on us and Steve's tyre started to disintegrate, finally blowing out on the way down to Beauly. With no spare tyre and no bike shops for miles, we were scuppered! In to the rescue come Anne-Marie & Ken, Steve's cousin & partner, who drove from Speyside to a bike shop in Avimore, then all the way to us, to get us back on the road! They were real lifesavers & we don't what we would've done without them. So we took the excuse to have a few celebratory beers and a very funny night in Beauly!! Fantastic guys & thanks again. 67 miles in total.
Day 13 - Saturday: Easy Peddles, Seals, Oil Rigs & Old Faces
Isabelle & Damian set us up with a great breakfast (with porridge of course!) and said they didn't mind all the laughing as we came in late the night before!! The cycling started well with long flats and easy down hills. As we crossed the Cromarty Bridge we watched the seals sun bathing on rocks and playing in the Firth. There was a North Sea oil rig in for repair at Invergordon, as well the local Highland Games being held there..
Then past the Glenmorangie Distillery and across the Dornoch Firth, where we meet a group of cyclists heading down to Land's End in the opposite direction (not far now lads!!!).
We stopped in Golspie for a spot of lunch and totally out of the blue we bumped into Trent, our Tasmanian friend doing the same trip (on a different route) that we'd met way back in Okehampton on Day 2!! So the three of us rode on a little further to Helmsdale, where we'd all booked to stay by sheer chance. It was a fairly early finish, as we knew we only had a few miles to do the next day to finish the trip!! We met up for a few early celebratory beers and prepared ourselves for the last leg of the journey. 70 miles in total.
Day 14 - Sunday: The Final Leg!!
It was real porridge for breakfast (made with salt!!) as we left our B&B (with our en-suite bathroom in the turret of a tower!), only to be greeting with a series of large climbs, but equally large and steep descents! From 4mph uphill to 40mph down is quite exhilerating, especially on 2 thin tyres & fully laden pannier bags!! Steve found out just how exciting when some rouge sheep decided to run in front of him when was at high speed downhill!!
As we cycled up the far north east coast of Scotland, we could see the great expanse of the North Sea, broken only the occasional oil rigs on the horizon. The weather was being kind to us and we had the sun with us all the way, as we counted down the last remaining miles to John O'Groats. The three of us stopped for our last snack stop of the trip, before we pushed for the last 17 miles to the official end of our journey. The rain threatened at the last minute but held off when we arrived at John O'Groats, the last point of the mainland British Isles! We cracked open the champagne, had our pictures taken by the official JOG sign and had a cup of tea!!! 55 miles covered that day, 975 overall mileage, sore bums, one sore knee, but a great experience & a great trip. We did it - End to End in 2 weeks, what an adventure!!!
CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT WEEK ONE
Land's End to John O'Groats. After a few smaller cycles (Guildford to Brighton, The Devon Coast to Coast & Whitehaven to Newcastle sea to sea (The C2C)), we've decided to dive straight into the deep end and take on the Daddy of all UK pedals - End to End, The Land's End to John O'Groats (LEJOG) cycle. 1000 miles in the saddle, with only some Lycra and a little bit of padding for comfort!!!
We've set a date of heading off from the far bottom tip of the country in Cornwall on Monday 11th August this year, peddling north up through the country and finally arriving at the very top tip of the mainland in Scotland sometime later!!!
Just to note, we're doing this ride with no support - so no van or car following us, so everything we need to take with us, we carry on the bikes.
If we're doing this mad attempt at cycling the length of the country, we thought we'd raise some money for charity. So we sat down and went through the options of who we could raise money for. The list is almost endless - with all of us knowing someone who has been affected in some way by something. But we've finally chosen 2 charities that we're raising for.
They are: NACC - The National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease. Phil's nephew Aiden and a few of our close friends suffer from Crohn's Disease. It's a horrible condition and one that stays with you all your life with no real cure. So the funds raised will help to improve the quality of life for sufferers. MIND - the leading mental health charity. They work to create a better life for everyone experiencing mental health problems. One in four of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives and the money raised will help
MIND help those that need support at those times. The money raised will be split 50/50 between the two charities. So please give what you can and think of us pedaling our way up the country! Please dig deep and sponsor us online. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: NACC & MIND will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.